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English
Othello: Act and Scene Activities
Shakespeare’s tragedy about race and manipulation is an established favourite for senior students. Each scene has a single-page task sheet comprising three higher-order tasks: a close reading of a nominated passage, an extended response to develop interpretative thinking, and a choice of creative writing tasks which springboard from the language and ideas in the scene. These tasks get students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Chapter tasks
Wilde’s Gothic novel about vanity and perdition is an established favourite for senior students. Each chapter has a single-page task sheet comprising three higher-order tasks: a close reading of a nominated passage, an extended response to develop interpretative thinking, and a choice of creative writing tasks which springboard from the language and ideas in the chapter. These tasks get students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay.
King Lear: Act and Scene Activities
Shakespeare’s tragedy about madness and family is an established favourite for senior students. Each scene has a single-page task sheet comprising three higher-order tasks: a close reading of a nominated passage, an extended response to develop interpretative thinking, and a choice of creative writing tasks which springboard from the language and ideas in the scene. These tasks get students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay.
Short Story Study: H.P. Lovecraft, 'Dagon'
Short stories are a vital part of English literature. These short story studies can be used to build a short story unit, to supplement other texts, or as a standby lesson.
Use this with our FREE Introduction to Short Stories two-page handout.
Each classic story is copyright free in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Paragraphs are numbered for ease of reference.
Activities correspond to Bloom’s taxonomy of lower- to higher-order tasks.
A comprehension question checks knowledge and understanding
Application questions ask students to apply their knowledge of literary or rhetorical technique
Analytical questions interrogate the story’s effect, mood, and construction-strategies.
Creative writing tasks use an aspect of the story as a springboard to write creatively, discursively, or persuasively.
H.P. Lovecraft’s classic cosmic horror story has been successfully used with a Stage 5 / Year 10 class ( 15 years).
Texts and Human Experience Short Story: Peter Gaskill, 'Black Magic'
Short stories are an effective way to illustrate the key concepts and reading strategies in the HSC Texts and Human Experience module. These short stories can be used to introduce the module, to supplement the prescribed text, as a standby lesson, or as part of an assessment task.
Questions ask students to apply concepts from the rubric to the story, and sample answers on separate pages which the teacher may detach for teaching.
Peter Gaskill’s story ‘Black Magic’ is about a fighter pilot attempting to make an impossible landing on a Pacific island during WWII. It is around 2226 words long and has been used successfully with a senior class (16-18 years).
Chapter and essay questions for Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World
Thirty-five high-level reading questions and ten essay questions for students reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterly study of ambiguity and self-fictionalisation in post-war Japan. The questions are designed to draw students’ attention to Ishiguro’s mastery of language strategies and his handling of Masuji Ono’s deceptions, fictions, and shifting portraits.
Can be used together with the Talking Points and sample essay (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12365546) available as a bundle. here
Poetry Study Worksheet: W.B. Yeats, 'Among Schoolchildren'
The poetry of W.B. Yeats is a great choice for higher interest/ability senior students. This worksheet will take 1-2 lessons to complete. It provides:
a copy of the poem
a comprehensive series of questions structured according to Bloom’s Taxonomy for easier differentiation
a creative writing task which students can complete as homework
Poetry Study Worksheet: W.B. Yeats, 'Song of Wandering Angus'
The poetry of W.B. Yeats is a great choice for higher interest/ability senior students. This worksheet will take 1-2 lessons to complete. It provides:
a copy of the poem
a comprehensive series of questions structured according to Bloom’s Taxonomy for easier differentiation
a creative writing task which students can complete as homework
Poetry Study Worksheet: W.B. Yeats, 'Wild Swans at Coole'
The poetry of W.B. Yeats is a great choice for higher interest/ability senior students. This worksheet will take 1-2 lessons to complete. It provides:
a copy of the poem
a comprehensive series of questions structured according to Bloom’s Taxonomy for easier differentiation
a creative writing task which students can complete as homework
Victorian Poetry Study Activity: The Poetry of Empire
Victorian poetry regularly makes the top ten poems in public surveys, and much of our conception of what makes ‘good’ poetry was shaped by poets like Tennyson, Browning, Rossetti, and Arnold. This period formed the emotional and social attitudes which linger today – even in post-modern texts which claim to have moved beyond them. While the Romantics were read by the literati, the Victorian poets in this unit formed the core of public poetry consumption. An understanding of this period is essential for students who will read Edwardian and Modernist literature in later terms, by showing them what these writers and artists reacted against.
This activity comprises
two poems by Kipling and Hardy with questions which require students to make a close analysis and interpretation
suggestions for extension reading to extend their knowledge of the poets
a creative writing task which helps them to engage laterally and personally with the ideas in the poetry.
Unit of Work: Victorian Poetry
Victorian poetry regularly makes the top ten poems in public surveys, and much of our conception of what makes ‘good’ poetry was shaped by poets like Tennyson, Browning, Rossetti, and Arnold. This period formed the emotional and social attitudes which linger today – even in post-modern texts which claim to have moved beyond them. While the Romantics were read by the literati, the Victorian poets in this unit formed the core of public poetry consumption. An understanding of this period is essential for students who will read Edwardian and Modernist literature in later terms, by showing them what these writers and artists reacted against.
The unit is designed to be taught over an 8-10 week term, and contains:
Introduction to Victorian Britain – an easy research task which students can do together or individually, drawing on readily-available online resources about the nineteenth century.
Seven poetry-focused modules:
o The Poet Laureate: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
o The Pre-Raphaelites: Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti
o Celebrity Marriages: Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning
o Personal Piety: Matthew Arnold and Gerald Manley Hopkins
o Nonsense Poetry: Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll
o The Poetry of Empire: Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy
o America: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
A short list of films, documentaries, and series which students can watch for context.
An essay-based assessment task suitable for students aged 15-16
Bundle
19th Century Poetry and Novel: Twin Units of Work
Victorian poetry regularly makes the top ten poems in public surveys, and much of our conception of what makes ‘good’ poetry was shaped by poets like Tennyson, Browning, Rossetti, and Arnold. This period formed the emotional and social attitudes which linger today – even in post-modern texts which claim to have moved beyond them. While the Romantics were read by the literati, the Victorian poets in this unit formed the core of public poetry consumption. An understanding of this period is essential for students who will read Edwardian and Modernist literature in later terms, by showing them what these writers and artists reacted against.
The unit is designed to be taught over an 8-10 week term, and contains:
Introduction to Victorian Britain – an easy research task which students can do together or individually, drawing on readily-available online resources about the nineteenth century.
Seven poetry-focused modules:
o The Poet Laureate: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
o The Pre-Raphaelites: Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti
o Celebrity Marriages: Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning
o Personal Piety: Matthew Arnold and Gerald Manley Hopkins
o Nonsense Poetry: Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll
o The Poetry of Empire: Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy
o America: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
A short list of films, documentaries, and series which students can watch for context.
An essay-based assessment task suitable for students aged 15-16
TOGETHER WITH SILAS MARNER
A thorough study of each chapter in Eliot’s short masterpiece Silas Marner. Each chapter is annotated with a short precis of the chapter’s events, so that students can quickly locate the right section, and a thematic table at the beginning lays out some of the complex philosophical and literary ideas which underpin Eliot’s morality tale. Language and narrative techniques are carefully explained, and each chapter is accompanied by a selection of quotations to strengthen students’ understanding of evidence-based arguments.
Unit of Work: Narratives that shape our world - Voltaire's Candide
Voltaire’s brilliant philosophical satire has never been more relevant than now. Candide’s response to the belief that “all’s for the best in the best of all possible worlds” is a timely challenge for a climate in turmoil and the need for intelligent resilience.
This 59-page unit contains
An introductory task on the Enlightenment and its ideas and values
An biographical task on Voltaire’s life
Reading questions and activities on each chapter of Candide, supported by images
A bibliography of short stories which can be used as support texts and for extension reading
A number of essay questions suitable for senior students
Unit of Work: Devices of Poetry
This eight-section unit written for Years 8-9 (ages 13-15) focuses explicitly on poetic techniques and elements of poetry. It can be taught as a complete unit over a term, or in sections complementing a wider study of rhetorical and poetic devices.
The unit comprises sections on rhyme and rhythm, personification, imagery, epithet, theme (cats and men; modern life); symbolism, and form (acrostic poetry). Each section can be bought separately.
Each section includes:
one page-explanation of the device or technique
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions
And there’s a free summative assessment in short answers format!
Devices of Poetry: Rhyme and Rhythm
This worksheet introduces students to an important element of poetry: rhyme and rhthym. It can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider study of poetry, and contains
a one page-explanation of the device or technique
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions
Devices of Poetry: Personification
This worksheet introduces students to an important element of poetry: personification. It can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider study of poetry, and contains
a one page-explanation of the device or technique
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions
Devices of Poetry: Modern Life
This worksheet introduces students to an important element of poetry: theme - in this case, modern life and technology. It can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider study of poetry, and contains
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions
Adventure Genre: Andy Milligan, Trash
This 54-page unit, written for Years 7-8 (ages 11-13) offers beginning high school students an introduction to genre, focusing on Andy Milligan’s adventure novel Trash. It comprises:
an introduction to genre and the conventions of the adventure genre
five sections on Trash with reading comprehension questions
activities on the foundational elements of narrative (character, setting, conflict, plot, and voice). These activities ask students to identify the narrative element in the novel and write short examples of their own
an exclusive short adventure story for reading extension or differentiation
a two-part assessment task where students identify conventions in an unseen passage, then write creatively in the genre
Devices of Poetry: Theme - Men and Cats
This worksheet introduces students to an important element of poetry: theme - in this case, cats and their relationships with men. It can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider study of poetry, and contains
a one page-explanation of the device or technique
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions
Devices of Poetry: Symbolism
This worksheet introduces students to an important element of poetry: symbolism. It can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider study of poetry, and contains
a one page-explanation of the device or technique
at least two poems for easy differentiation
writing tasks for each poem following Bloom’s Taxonomy of lower- to higher-order questions